Tickets to Rise

In Search of a Wisewoman

At the risk of giving some of an age another ear worm, a nod to The Beatles, and others saying that’s “ride” it occured to me that while the original lyrics were about a woman leaving her partner because she feels dragged down and the phrase “ticket to ride” means having the means and the final decision to end the relationship, that one does require the energy to rise to change whatever darkness exists in their life.

Psychiatrists know that a depressed person is not at risk until others around them are lulled into seeing inertia be replaced. That is the danger zone when self-harm is fueled by action. Contrast that with someone who finally has had enough and begins to quietly plan an escape. There is an old saying about when you are down the only place to go is up. The capacity for the human spirit to overcome enormous odds is a reason our species is still on the planet. Pestilence and disease and endless wars pepper our history, and yet from the plague or the devastation came those who had the spark left to rise.

Swaths of this country and sadly others around the world, are dealing with wildfire, living on evacuation alert or awaiting permission to view what is left of their sanctuary, their hopes and dreams and memories. It is perhaps our taste of what it is like living in a war zone other than what is flying is water-bearing and not missiles set to destroy life. What we have is a common enemy largely created by greed. In the case of wildfire it is global warming that went unheeded because of the huge gains from fossil fuels. Centuries old cities have never before experienced such intense heat. Forests that were eco-systems slow in the making are torched. Can we not finally learn to stop running away from what needs to be done and rise up and rebuild together? Our ticket has been punched. Time to rise.